As the evening grew darker, the pub's interiors grew in volumes. Everyone else around you was laughing and clinking their glasses together - a group of people at the other side of the pub was apparently celebrating someone's birthday and they made the most noise, but the situation wasn't much less noisy in other tables either.

You and Kaz ate in silence, with you trying to not look at Kaz as his discomfort very clearly came through. The waitress had asked Kaz while looking at you if he'd like to buy today's special for his girlfriend, and he had immediately barked at her, correcting her that you were his acquaintance, actually less than an acquaintance. The waitress had given him a weird look as he was paying for you both, and you were trying to suppress a smile at her confused expression.

And now he was stiff, occasionally squeezing his cane with his other hand while eating, chewing slowly - you recognised the signs, and you knew it was because he didn't particularly enjoy sitting with the daughter of his arch enemy, eating as if you were on a date. You knew he despised the feeling. So you sighed and leaned forward.

"Kaz, should I–"

Kaz interrupted you. "Who were you writing a letter to? Your father?"

You froze - how did he know? You opened your mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. "I–"

He scoffed, the fork clattering on the plate as he raised his head a bit. "I'm not stupid. An ink bottle in the bathroom? I'd think someone like you would know how to lie better."

You blinked at him as he slowly raised his eyes to meet yours, and then you groaned. "Well, I hoped this wouldn't come up. The truth is... I have a boyfriend in Dime Lions. Or well, had. And I think he was the one who ratted me out. He swears he isn't the one, but I know it's just a trick... I was intending to send a letter to him to threaten him that once I come back, I'll gut him too once my father is out. But I was interrupted and the ink bottle spilled on me, I was in so much rage that I forgot everything around me. I lied because... well, it's still a delicate subject for me and–" you ended your sentence abruptly, pretending to choke back a sob. "I don't want to seem weak. I'm not. Love is a weakness, and those who seek it are to be victims of their own heart. I think that I knew, deep in my heart, what my father truly is and I sought comfort from Tiernan, which was stupid."

Kaz thought for a moment and then huffed. "So, the rumour was true. The Blood Princess and Tiernan Dwyer being involved."

You suppressed back a snort. Idiots, seeing chemistry between you and Tiernan.

"Was it that obvious?" you mumbled, lowering your spoon slightly. "I thought I was good at masking my feelings."

Kaz picked up his fork again. "There was a bet going around. Jesper betted on you two not being together, and now he'd lose a fair share of money for it if I were one to tell them this."

You sighed. "What a shame. Seems like I bring nothing but bad luck for that man."

Kaz shifted before picking up another piece of carrot. "He needs a kick of bad luck sometimes."

—

On the road again, the sun had set an hour ago and darkness had descended over the valley like a shroud. You could barely see, and you both knew it was dangerous to ride without seeing anything, but the job wouldn't wait - you'd need to be at Rotrov before sunrise, you'd need to snatch the uniforms in the middle of the night. There'd be a lot more guards during daytime, but at night only one or two. Or that's what Kaz told you. You guessed a warehouse for uniforms and weapons branded by Little Palace symbols weren't a popular thing to snatch.

You passed a bridge, the sound of water flowing below it, making you think of that old farm your father sometimes brought you to on business trips only a few years ago. You weren't able to adventure though, you were mostly babysitting toddler Alby and watching as he mashed toy carriages together while babbling something unintelligible. But when you were sitting outside with him, you heard birds, water flowing in the creek, wind blowing through the trees, rustling leaves.

There, you felt content. A little vacation, away from the grime of Ketterdam, away from your cellar. Your father tried to teach you to feel empowered through torture, and you did in a way - but when you sat on that blanket, looking at Alby playing, you found yourself wanting to stop the time and sit there for the rest of your life.

You always brushed it off though. Ketterdam was merciless for the weak, especially for women. If you sank too deep into some stupid flower girl dreams, you could as well end up in a pleasure house.

"We're getting close," Kaz's voice pulled you away from your thoughts. "We'll have to leave the horses here. By that little pond over there."

You did as he told, dismounting your horse and guided it next to the pond. She immediately dipped her head down and began to drink greedily, which made you smile a little and give her a pat. Kaz came to stand beside you, and pointed towards the small building behind the bushes, and its open window in particular.

"There, you see that window?"

"Yes, I see it. That's our way in?"

"No," Kaz replied, and you turned to look at him. "It's your way in. You'll open the door for me once you've taken out the guard."

You narrowed your eyes at Kaz. "This is that test, isn't it?"

He didn't reply to your question, and instead made his way behind the fence. "Once the guard switches his post with the one inside, you'll get in. We need to make it seem like nothing is stolen, and the guard slipped and hit his head. You need to hit hard enough for him to not realise what's happening, it needs to look like an accident. Otherwise, they'll–"

"Inform the Little Palace that they need to check their guards, which could sabotage our plan. Got it."

Kaz nodded and then gestured to you to come closer to the fence. "There's a crack here. Slip through."

You took in a deep breath and carefully slipped through the crack in the fence, and crouched down as you sneaked your way to the window.

The torch of one the guards almost illuminated your form as you scrambled towards the window, and you glanced back at where you last saw Kaz - but the man had disappeared. A suspicion of it being a trap crossed your mind, maybe he had known you're lying about the letter? Maybe he guessed that you were trying to trick him? Dirtyhands was skilled in detecting lies, you had heard. Which you had taken as a challenge, but in moments like these, you cursed yourself for not being more careful.

But the fact that you getting caught could sabotage the plan of getting to Little Palace for him too was the thing that made you push up and get yourself through the window.

The hut was smaller than it seemed from the outside. There was a small closet which supposedly held at least some of the uniforms, and the guard himself sat on the chair near the window, his dirty boots lifted on the table, and you heard deep breaths with occasional, faint snoring. The chair was slightly tilted backwards - which was a perfect setup. Luck was clearly on your side tonight. You'd just have to make the chair fall down hard enough to knock the guy out, it would look like he had fallen down while sleeping.

So, you sneaked up on him and in a swift move, you slammed the chair to the ground. The guard cried out and you jumped back, realising you hadn't hit him hard enough. Shit.

Blood stained the floor as he continued moaning in pain, and you were just about to kick him in the head, but then a torch light illuminated the hut, making you crouch down. "Bocharov! Are you alright?"

Shit, shit shit shit.

You quickly made your way to the closet, pressing yourself to the back wall, praying to Ghezen that any of your body parts wouldn't be sticking out.

The torches illuminated the closet briefly, making you squeeze your eyes shut for a moment, and when you opened them again, you saw how three men had entered the hut.

"What happened?" one of them asked, and the man, Bocharov, groaned.

"I slipped."

"You were sleeping again? You know General Kuznetsov won't like that."

"He makes us work for an inhuman amount of hours for just a few vlackhi. It's not fair if we aren't allowed to rest."

Judging by the sounds, someone helped Bocharov to stand up and the third man spoke, "You have a wife and kid to feed, so you'd better have your priorities up with it. Now, come to get patched up - work can wait for a little longer."

The four men then exited the hut, Bocharov being assisted out by two of his comrades, and the door shut. You swallowed, staring at the door for a moment longer, before you slowly made your way out of the closet and unlocked the door, carefully peering outside.

No sign of Kaz.

"Damn it, Brekker," you grumbled and turned your back to the door, going to the closet and carefully taking out two uniforms, and then seeing a set of knives at the back of the closet. You stared at them for a moment, trying to decide whether to take them or not. You didn't have a weapon against Kaz, and time was running out - that would be a perfect opportunity. You turned around again to lay the uniforms on the chair by the door, and paused upon seeing Kaz standing there.

Damn it.

You masked your surprise by rolling your eyes. "I thought you're leaving me here."

Kaz's eyes shifted to the uniforms in your hands. "It did cross my mind. Come."

"What a gentleman," you mumbled, but followed Kaz out of the area. And soon, you were back on your horses, the uniforms tightly secured at the back as you began your journey towards Os Alta.

—

You're enjoying his company, a voice at the back of your head said. It's messing up with your plans. Are you really trying hard enough to make up a way to get rid of him?

You clenched your jaw, trying to keep your eyes on the road and not glance back at Kaz. You scowled at your thoughts and whispered, " Shut up."

Of course you were still planning, giving your everything for those plans to work. You were about to snatch a knife from the closet, but you weren't quick enough. You were planning to kill him at that motel, but then the non-creaking floorboard messed up with your plans. You were trying, but luck wasn't on your side. And now time was running out, you'd need to make up a new plan once you'd be out of Little Palace. To get rid of Jesper and Inej would be a remarkable problem, though.

Again, Kaz's voice interrupted your thoughts. "We're almost at the Palace. Let's go change clothes, and find some distraction."

You turned to look at him. "Distraction?"

Kaz scoffed at your question. "We can't just put uniforms on and walk through the gates without anyone trying to identify us. We need to blend in."

You pursed your lips and sighed, before turning your eyes back to the road. "Right. Where will we change clothes?"

Kaz passed you with his horse, and gestured towards a pond that was barely visible behind the thick hay. "There's a small warehouse hosting gardening supplies around the creek, near that pond. Go there to change, I'll go find our distraction."

You slowed down your horse as Kaz started to ride away, and you yelled after him, "And what exactly is our distraction?"

Kaz didn't reply, which made you groan. Typical. You started to have a feeling that this man would drive you crazy eventually, in one way or another.